The sinful succulence of violet affection
by odanobuna
Summary: Vi runs away after getting into a fight Caitlyn, only to end up at a strange bakery helmed by a peculiar baker. Who is this baker and what's her story? How is she related to Vi and what does she want with her? COMPLETED.
1. Sinful Succulence

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Vi cried as she ran, ignoring Caitlyn's desperate shouts from behind her. "Stupid war, stupid guy, stupid Cupcake, and most importantly, stupid me!"

Vi raised an arm to wipe the tears that were pouring down her cheeks. Her trusty gauntlets were strapped to her back instead of occupying their usual spots on her arms.

"Stupid war for bringing them back together! Stupid guy for proposing! Stupid Cupcake for accepting!"

She had done it. She had actually turned her back on Caitlyn. HER Caitlyn. The one she had sworn to protect. The one person she had been in love with for a long time. She had tried dropping a number of obvious hints about her feelings, but Caitlyn always seemed too oblivious to understand how she really felt. It got to the point that she began to wonder how a person as intellectually gifted as Caitlyn could be so emotionally inept.

It was only now that Vi realised just how much she had misread her beloved Cupcake. Caitlyn was not actually oblivious. She had known about Vi's feelings all this while and was merely stringing her along like a dog on a leash!

"Stupid me for falling in love with her! And stupid me for thinking I even had a chance!"

Caitlyn had been assigned the mission of assassinating one of Noxus' two remaining leaders from the rooftop of a tall building in the outskirts of the Noxian capital. As usual, Vi was given the task of protecting her while the Sheriff focused all of her attention on her sniper shot – a time during which she was particularly vulnerable.

Both of them knew how important the mission was. If Caitlyn succeeded, it would almost definitely bring about the end of the alliance's war with Noxus. If she failed, then their slippery target would most likely slip away. The day before the mission, Caitlyn had approached her with a special request. She wanted Vi to wear her Piltover police officer uniform for once. Vi absolutely hated her uniform and usually preferred to wear her grey armoured suit, but she could not say no to Caitlyn's pleading eyes and could not ignore the stirring she felt in her chest when she saw the hope in those amethyst eyes transforming into joy when the request was accepted.

So she had made special preparations in order to accommodate the request. She had asked hammerhead to modify her gauntlets with the additional ability to change colours at the click of a button, changing them from the usual metallic grey to the gold and white colours of the Piltover City Police Department. Though she and hammerhead were at loggerheads, all she needed to do was mention the Sheriff's name for the smitten lovesick fool to immediately accept. And yet, when she finally donned her uniform with her matching gauntlets, who else could she have met but HIM?

"I asked for her hand in marriage today and she accepted."

Those words were all it took for her whole world to come crashing down. She screamed and screamed until her voice was hoarse but it did nothing to alleviate the pain emanating from her heart. Deep down, she had always known it was impossible. She had an extensive criminal background, while Caitlyn was the Sheriff. How could she even think it was possible between them? It was ironic how similar she and hammerhead probably were. They were both in love with the same woman and they were both jilted by her.

She looked down at her attire and realised how ridiculous it was for her to be wearing that uniform. This was not who she really was. She changed back to her grey armoured suit and waited for Caitlyn to arrive. When the Sheriff finally showed up, clad in her own officer uniform, the first question she asked was about her partner's attire, but Vi was not interested in any of that.

"I love you."

She said it. She did not beat around the bush. She did not want to play any more games.

"I love you too. Now let's go, I need to get up there and set up my rifle," Caitlyn replied with the same dismissive tone she had always used in response to Vi's advances.

"I mean it, Cupcake. I love you. Not as a friend or as a partner. I love you in the same way that a man would love a woman," Vi pressed on.

For once, Caitlyn was at a loss for words.

"I… Vi, we have no time for you to do this again. We need to-"

"Again? What do you mean by again? Do you mean that you've always been aware of my feelings?" Vi interrupted.

Caitlyn finally folded under the pressure.

"Of course I know that you like me that way! Can we please have this conversation later? Now is not the time for this!"

"Why didn't you say something then? Why did you repeatedly pretend not to know how I felt about you?" Vi's voice was cracking now as she fought to hold back her tears.

"I just didn't want things to get awkward between us! You only joined the department recently and I didn't want you to quit! Look, whatever it is, let's finish our mission first. I'll have time for you later."

Vi shook her head tearfully at how flippant the Sheriff was being.

"I apologise, _sheriff_ ," Vi replied, emphasising the final word. She never addressed Caitlyn by her rank except in serious situations. She threw her officer badge at Caitlyn before yelling at the top of her lungs.

"I'm sorry for wasting your _precious_ time! And I'm sorry for being such a _defective tool_!"

Then she ran. And ran some more.

* * *

Vi panted and bent over with her hands on her knees. She had run until she was completely exhausted. She looked around. The streets around her had been razed by the fighting and the looting that invariably ensued as a result of the chaos. Most of the buildings were abandoned and the Noxian army had set many of them on fire in an attempt to slow down the surging alliance forces as the Noxians retreated to the capital city.

Vi wiped away her tears one last time and straightened herself before walking around aimlessly through the decimated streets of Noxus. She walked past numerous abandoned homes, many of which had their doors swinging open in the wind, their owners not having bothered to lock the entrances before fleeing the area. She saw several stores with their front windows shattered and their interiors completely ransacked for valuables. The once-great town was in complete shambles.

She let her feet guide her around the random streets, past several more dilapidated buildings, until they finally came to a stop before a small dingy store that was still intact.

"Sinful succulence: treats for your sugary needs," read the sign above the door.

Great, the one place that was still open and it had to be a cupcake store. With a resigned sigh, Vi opened the door to the bakery and walked in.


	2. Vi's story

"Hello?" Vi called out hesitantly into the dark room that was only dimly lit by a single flickering light bulb suspended from the ceiling by a thin cable.

The store looked completely deserted but there were small signs of life here and there that indicated that someone had been there recently. A coffee machine hissed fiercely as steam rushed out of its valve, while hot water squeezed through freshly ground coffee powder and dripped into the two cups porcelain cups placed underneath it, mixing with the generous heap of cocoa powder ladled into each cup.

The aroma of strawberry syrup and burnt caramel wafted into Vi's nostrils from the batch of cupcakes being baked in the oven, immediately causing her to salivate in anticipation.

With the owner nowhere in sight, Vi took the opportunity to look around the grey walls of the sparsely decorated store. She plodded over to glance through the posters of previous weekly specials pasted on one of the walls, each pastry being given tasteful names in keeping with the overall theme of the store, such as "Blood Lust" for a blood orange flavoured cupcake and "Werewolf Wrath" for a wolfberry cookie.

Another wall featured a few picture frames that contained childish watercolour paintings that had obviously been painted by a child, as seen from its simple brush strokes and stickman figures. Vi was particularly drawn to a painting with two small stick figures holding hands on a green grass patch outside what looked like a small hut. The figure on the right was drawn with grey skin and purple hair, but what made it particularly distinct was the pair of wings on its back. The figures on the left was considerably smaller than the other figure, such that it had to raise its little arm to hold the other's hand. This figure was coloured beige with short violet hair.

Vi took a quick glance at the rest of the paintings. None of the other paintings were of particular interest, with the rest being painted in the same simplistic style. She stepped away from the paintings and moved towards the wall that was closest to the counter. This wall was blank except for a large and dusty oval mirror. Vi looked closely at her reflection in the mirror. All of a sudden, a winged figure appeared behind her reflection, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Welcome to Sinful Succulence. I'm Morg… Morgause, owner and head chef," greeted the stranger.

Vi turned to face Morgause, who was dressed in chef's attire, complete with the tall chef hat. Half of her face was hidden by her long dark purple hair, leaving only her right eye visible. Vi's gaze drifted to the large pair of wings attached to Morgause's back. They had the colour of nightshade and were frayed and tattered towards the ends. Had they not been completely motionless, Vi would have thought they were real. She almost wanted to feel them with her fingers because of how lifelike they were, but held back, knowing how rude it would be.

Morgause noticed the source of her guest's attention and smiled knowingly.

"These wings made from a combination of cloth, plastic, and papier mache. Do you like them? I made them myself."

"They're very realistic," Vi commented as she seated herself on one of the barstools positioned in front of the counter. "You're a good crafter."

"I appreciate the compliments. I don't get many customers anymore ever since the area was evacuated due to the war, but these wings were the talk of the town back in my shop's heyday. I'd normally let you touch them, but I stopped allowing that when a customer got a little rough and nearly damaged them."

Morgause lifted both cups of mocha from the coffee machine and placed them on matching saucers. She slid one cup in front of Vi before lifting the other up to her lips and taking a small sip.

"Feel free to order anything you want. It's on me today since you're the first customer here in ages."

Vi read the menu on the counter and selected a "Death Note", described as a dark chocolate muffin sprinkled with Dead Sea Salt and had the customer's name written on top with white chocolate icing.

The pastry arrived in a rectangular shape. The dark chocolate layering was almost black, with the word "Vi" written in white chocolate. This last detail surprised Vi, since she had not actually given Morgause her name, but her apprehension was dispelled when Morgause pointed at the scar under Vi's left eye, where her name was clearly marked.

Morgause stepped around the counter and sat facing Vi on the barstool next to her.

"So what brings you here today? No one else lives in this area anymore. Judging from your expression, I take it that you got into an argument with someone important to you?"

Vi widened her eyes at Morgause's incisive question. Her hand, which had been idly stirring her cup of mocha, froze completely with a vice-like grip on the small teaspoon.

"How did you know?" Vi whispered while keeping her eyes trained on her cup, not looking at Morgause.

"I know many things," Morgause replied cryptically. "You remind me of my daughter."

Vi's gaze snapped towards Morgause at the latest revelation.

"You're a mother? But you look younger than me!" Vi exclaimed.

"I get that a lot. I haven't seen my daughter in ages though."

The baker brushed some of her errant hair behind her ear, making eye contact with both of her purple eyes.

"Sorry about that. What's the deal with your daughter?"

"It's a long story. Let's make a deal. You tell me your story and I'll tell you mine."

Vi took a sip from her cup, feeling the thick mixture of caffeine and cocoa running soothingly down her throat. She lowered her gaze again as her story spilled out of her lips.

She talked about her childhood, of growing up without parents as a delinquent in the outskirts of Piltover, going into detail regarding the many instances of robbing and stealing that she could remember, with many others having been forgotten. She talked about Jinx and her old gang, as well as the turning point when she decided to save the miners in a collapsing mine instead of escaping with her gang.

"Everyone else just ran to save themselves. They didn't care about the miners and they didn't care about me. I probably should have run too, but I just couldn't. Something in me insisted that I needed to do the right thing for once; that I had to save the miners, so I did."

Morgause never interrupted throughout Vi's narration of the story, choosing instead to nod along at appropriate intervals to encourage Vi to continue. Vi knew that Caitlyn would have strongly rebuked her for revealing so many aspects of her past to a stranger, and indeed, she had never gone into such detail about her background with anyone except Caitlyn. Morgause was a good listener, however, and something about the cup of mocha seemed to put her in the mood to talk.

Vi's eyes lit up when she started talking about her first encounter with Caitlyn, in which the sheriff invited her to join the police force as her deputy. She spoke glowingly about the sharpshooter's mental and physical toughness in withstanding a brutal beating at Vi's own hands, narrating vividly about the massive force behind every single punch that she smashed into Caitlyn's body, with every single one failing to keep the sheriff down for good, eventually earning her admiration and respect, as well as convincing her to join the force.

"She said that she knew how painful my past was, that she never went through what I did, but that she could help me, she could turn my life around if I just let her. I didn't believe her of course so we kind of made a deal. She would allow me to give her a beating and if she endured it all then I would join her. So that's what I did, I beat her up, I really did. Pulled no punches, hit as hard as I could, aimed for the same spot every single time. I damn well rearranged her internal organs countless times with all those punches to her belly button, but she somehow pulled it off. I was completely exhausted but she was still standing. I don't know how but she did it. I kept my promise and became her deputy."

She spoke with remorse about her first arrest. While she would have preferred to let another officer arrest Jinx, she understood that few others were up to the task. It might have been true that she was duty-bound to capture a criminal like Jinx, but she still felt guilty about the fact that part of her motivation for accepting the task was not completely altruistic. Caitlyn had taken a lot of flak for appointing Vi as deputy, so part of her sought acceptance by the department, which was eventually granted after word got around that she had arrested a member of her own former gang.

"Arresting Jinx was painful. She was like the little sister I never had. She's not a bad kid, she's just a little… unstable. She started doing some crazy things after I joined the police force because she no longer had me to keep her grounded. We cornered her and when she saw me with Caitlyn, she didn't realise that I was there as a police officer and not as her fellow gang member. She immediately resisted arrest and started attacking Caitlyn while shouted at me to escape while she bought time for me to avoid being arrested. In the end, I was forced to inject her with a tranquilizer and I was the one who put the cuffs around her wrists. I didn't do it for Piltover. I did it so I could fit in. I betrayed Jinx."

With Morgause completely rapt in her story, Vi proceeded to talk about how her relationship with Caitlyn developed. And she talked some more. About how Caitlyn had invited Vi to stay at her home permanently without a single bit of doubt concerning her integrity. About the immense faith that her partner had in her, relying almost solely on her for protection. About how their relationship slowly grew closer, and about the day that Vi finally realised that she had fallen in love with her partner after Jayce had confided with her about his feelings for the sheriff, which strangely aroused a deep-seated resentment in her.

"Hammerhead came to me to ask for help in setting him up with her. I agreed at first, but I found myself regretting it. I really wanted Cupcake to reject him. And when I thought deeper about it, I realised that I just wanted her all to myself. I wanted her to spend the rest of her life with me and no one else."

Her voice started breaking as she talked about the fight with Caitlyn that led to her current predicament.

"What hurt me most was that she knew about how I felt all this while. She didn't care about losing me. She only cared about losing her deputy. So I shouted at her. I wanted her to appreciate me for once. If she's going to get married to that idiot then let him protect her instead. So I ran. I left her to carry out her mission on her own. I can't remain by her side anymore…"

Still sitting on her barstool, Morgause reached out and pulled Vi closer to her in a loose hug, pressing Vi's head to her shoulder.

"Morgause… please let me go," Vi whispered, but the baker only pulled her even closer. A single tear rolled down Vi's cheek. "Please let me go… if you don't, I'm going to… I'm going to cr-"

Vi never got to finish. The words remained stuck in her throat and were instead replaced by quiet sobs as she wept into Morgause's shoulder.

"She used to hold me just like this. She gave me her shoulder to cry on. She wanted me to get over my past and embrace my future. But how can I do that when she IS my future?"

She wept for Jinx. She wept for Caitlyn. And she wept for her unrequited love that would never be reciprocated.

Morgause, for her part, did not interrupt and simply allowed Vi to let her emotions run freely while she patted Vi's hair and whispered comforting words into her ear.

When Vi finally stopped crying, Morgause grabbed a serviette from the counter and handed it Vi for her to dry her tears.

"Thank you for listening. I really embarrassed myself there," Vi sniffed.

"My pleasure. You've lived a very colourful life. I'm afraid my story is pretty boring compared to yours. How about I tell you a legend instead? This was the legend that inspired the design of my wings."

"I'm all ears," Vi replied.

* * *

A/N: Chapter ran longer than I expected. There'll be a third and final chapter.


	3. Morgause's story

Morgause swallowed a few gulps of her now-cooled cup of mocha and cleared her throat before narrating the legend.

"There is a world far away populated by graceful and beautiful winged beings. Among them were two sisters, Kayle and Morgana. Kayle and Morgana couldn't be more alike in appearance, and couldn't be more similar in having great leadership potential, but couldn't be more different in viewpoints."

"Like every other society, these angel-like beings faced numerous problems like poverty, war, crime, and so on. Kayle had an unconstrained vision of her species – that there was no limit to their core natures, which were malleable and could eventually be improved to the point of perfection. She believed that they were born free but everywhere they were in chains because the wrong institutions were in place, that all of their society's problems could be eradicated as long as they found the correct leader, a messiah if you will."

"On the other hand, Morgana viewed her people according to a constrained vision – that their natures were inherently imperfect and unchanging, and that this constraint meant that there would always be trade-offs to every policy. Attempting to change these inherent flaws would therefore merely worsen another flaw and create even more problems in the process. She believed that Kayle's concept of a messiah, if one did exist, could only manifest as a supernatural and omniscient being outside of their species, so no individual among them would ever have singular knowledge superior to the collective wisdom of society as a whole."

"To Kayle, selecting leaders for her species involved choosing anointed ones with the task of establishing strong institutions that would eradicate society's problems by forcing the unenlightened to obey the anointed ones rather than what these so-called unenlightened individuals themselves wanted to do. To Morgana, the intrinsic flaws within her species meant that no one had the absolute right or moral superiority to dictate what the whole society should do, so leaders should only have limited jurisdiction on the most basic activities necessary for society to function, while giving individuals the freedom to make their own decisions as they saw fit."

Morgause paused to assess Vi's reaction. The latter had a glazed look in her eyes, as though she could not make head or tail of what Morgause had said so far.

"That's a lot to take in," Vi commented. "Is this going anywhere? Because you were right just now when you said that this story is pretty boring!"

"I'm getting there," Morgause huffed. "The story gets more interesting later, but you won't be able to understand Kayle and Morgana's later decisions without knowing their motivations and why they see things the way they do."

"Continue then," Vi playfully threw her arms up in mock despair, drawing a chuckle from Morgause before she continued narrating the legend.

"The two sisters were born at a time when the leadership of the angels was very weak, causing the people to grow restless. However, Kayle and Morgana were both highly capable individuals, so both of them rapidly rose through the ranks of their society. They also grew extremely strong, both politically and in terms of raw power. Kayle mastered the spells and arts developed by her people over centuries, and was eventually bestowed with Judgment, the legendary magical sword conferred only to the strongest of her race. Morgana rejected the notion that her race had perfected their knowledge of spells and magic, instead preferring to research knowledge from other races in order to augment her skills."

"When the angels sought leadership renewal through a vote, both Kayle and Morgana were considered frontrunners. Kayle proclaimed herself as the judicator, a self-anointed being of perfect order and justice, fighting to unite the world under her law and strong central governance. Morgana called her a tyrant incapable of seeing the larger view, who would sacrifice individuality and freedom for the illusion of efficiency and safety under her misguided sense of cosmic justice. There was also a third candidate, Aatrox, who was the greatest warrior among the angels and had a small but loyal group of fringe supporters. His influence was significantly less than that of Kayle and Morgana, however, so he was considered to be out of the running very early on, leaving only the two sisters to contest the leadership position."

"As the date of the vote drew nearer, Morgana started to gain a very slight edge over Kayle. But Kayle had a Trump Card that Morgana didn't anticipate. She had been secretly negotiating with Aatrox and reached an agreement to make him her second in command. A few days before the vote, Aatrox pulled out of the race and backed Kayle, while Kayle herself spread rumours that the two of them were in a romantic relationship, leading to the public perception that supporting Kayle was equivalent to supporting Aatrox as well. Morgana was caught off-guard by this move and could not come up with a counterstrategy, resulting in her defeat when Aatrox's followers consolidated behind Kayle too."

Morgause paused her story for the second time, seeing that Vi was looking at her with a questioning look.

"How did Morgana manage to gain support over Kayle at first?" Vi asked.

"Morgana's views were simply more suited to her time," Morgause replied. "The angels had recently experienced such weak leadership that not many of them were receptive to the idea that a new leader could be trusted with the amount of power that Kayle wanted. Whenever the two publicly debated, Kayle simply did not have a convincing response to Morgana's argument that Kayle's centralised system was doomed to fail and that there needed to be a comprehensive system of checks and balances to prevent power from being held in the hands of a few."

"What happened after that? Did the two sisters work together and balance each other out?" Vi asked.

Morgana nodded at the question. She hopped off her barstool and wandered over to a low wooden drawer nestled in the corner of the room before bending over to retrieve something from it. Vi noted that Morgause appeared to be having some difficulty bending down, so she slid her chair out and was about to get off and help her when Morgause waved away her assistance.

After rummaging through the drawer for some time, Morgause fished out a white envelope and lightly kicked the drawer shut before shuffling back to Vi. She placed both hands on the counter, pushing down on it to ease herself back onto the barstool.

"Are you alright?" Vi asked worriedly, seeing that Morgana looked quite exhausted.

"Don't mind me," Morgause reassured her. "I'm just feeling a little tired and my legs fell asleep after sitting for too long. Time seems to fly when I'm chatting with you."

"Do you need me to leave? I think you should rest a bit, you're looking a little pale."

"No!" Morgana exclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly. "Please stay, I insist! I haven't enjoyed myself this much in a long time. I'm perfectly fine, really."

"O-kay, sorry to impose then."

Morgause opened the envelope and showed Vi the letter that was inside. Written in neat cursive handwriting was a short poem.

 _Cooking beans over a flame  
_ _The beans are letting off steam  
_ _Born of the same root and name  
_ _Why cause each other such pain?_

"Unfortunately for Morgana, she failed to anticipate something else: Kayle's vindictiveness, which as Morgana soon found out, would make itself apparent more than once. Kayle saw Morgana as a threat to her form of justice, so the first thing that she did when she gained leadership was to redefine the definition of 'dark arts' to include Morgana's class of spells, which made it illegal for Morgana to use more than half of her full repertoire of spells. Morgana could no longer use her spells as effectively as before and was demoted as a result. To make things worse, Kayle was still fearful of a future leadership challenge from Morgana and hired someone to keep her under watch at all times, on the basis that there was a high risk of Morgana practising illegal spells. The poem you just read was written from Morgana to Kayle, asking her why she would torment her own sister so badly."

"What about Aatrox? What became of him?" Vi enquired.

"Good question," Morgause smiled. "That forms the next part of the story."

"Aatrox was primarily a warrior, not a leader. He was the kind of being that could slice through legions in a style that was hypnotic to behold, but he did not possess the charisma of Kayle and Morgana. Don't get me wrong, he enjoyed having power too, but he had no desire to shoulder the responsibilities that came with leadership over the angels."

"Now, in spite of Kayle's decision to lie about being in a romantic relationship with Aatrox, the truth was that she despised him because he too did not fit with her vision, though she was forced to keep up a façade in order to obtain the support of his followers. The animosity was mutual on Aatrox's part because some of his own spells had been banned by Kayle's policy. He also detested her for repeatedly pulling rank and overruling him whenever his views differed from hers. So when Kayle's irrational fear and distrust of Morgana resulted in a command for someone more powerful to keep watch over the latter, Aatrox immediately volunteered. Both he and Kayle were thrilled to be outside each other's presence."

"Unbeknown to Kayle, however, Aatrox and Morgana shared an immediate mutual attraction once they met again in their new setting. This time, they were meeting not as political opponents, but as two outcasts who were disillusioned with the state of their society under Kayle's leadership. It was not Morgana's intention to seduce Aatrox or the other way around. It just happened. Pre-fall Morgana and Justicar Aatrox were actual kindred spirits and soulmates. Their first day ended with a kiss. Their third night was spent consummating their relationship, which eventually became an everyday activity between them."

"Kayle, as expected, eventually found out about their relationship and immediately redistributed Aatrox away from Morgana's side. While she grew even more fearful that Aatrox and Morgana would team up against her, Kayle held absolutely no affection for Aatrox and did not care enough to pursue the matter further as long as they were prevented from communicating and that their previous tryst was kept under wraps so as to not undermine her leadership."

Morgause paused for the third time to entertain a question from Vi.

"This Kayle, was she really as bad as the legend suggests?" Vi asked.

"Probably not," Morgause conceded. "Morgana is my idol, after all. I am partially named after her and these synthetic wings of mine were inspired by her depicted appearance, so my account is probably biased in favour of her. Morgana herself actually felt that Kayle was primarily an ideologue who had good intentions that were misplaced."

"So between Kayle and Morgana, who was right?" Vi questioned.

"There is no widespread agreement," Morgause replied. "If you accept the unconstrained view of your species – that forcing everyone to obey an enlightened individual would solve all of humanity's problems – then you would side with Kayle. If you believe in the constrained view that no individual has knowledge that is superior to collective wisdom, and that the best you can hope for is to minimise the damage caused by the flaws of human nature, then you would agree with Morgana."

"I don't like this type of no-right-answer conclusion. This is Cupcake's specialty. She could easily talk up a storm on your topic," Vi complained.

"Fair enough," Morgause commented. "I'm sure you do have some sort of opinion though, since visions, unlike interests, are the implicit assumptions that influence our perspectives. But first, let me finish up the last part of the legend."

* * *

A/N: If I could be this inspired every day, then Married to the Enemy would have been finished long ago. Story overran the chapter again. Next one will definitely be the last.


	4. Morgana's story

"Things went by uneventfully for some time after Kayle separated Aatrox and Morgana. However, Morgana soon discovered a highly problematic snag. She was pregnant. And her unborn child could only be Aatrox's. There was no way for Morgana to hide her condition when her pregnancy developed in the future since her usual attire consisted of a long flowy low-riding skirt and a metal brassiere. This attire was designed to allow her mana to flow unimpeded in a field around her body so as to facilitate efficient spellcasting, and Kayle knew that. Changing her attire out of the blue would definitely arouse Kayle's suspicion."

"In spite of all the obstacles in her path, Morgana was determined to keep the child. Angels were slow to conceive, so to her, a child was always a blessing and not a curse. She already felt a connection with her unborn child and felt responsible for the little life growing steadily in her belly. While the circumstances were less than ideal, the child was innocent and she had no right to kill it. So she opted for the oldest trick in the book: fake an illness and 'retire' in a faraway place to recuperate."

"Naturally, things didn't work out as planned. They never did whenever Kayle was involved, especially for things that did not conform to her ideals. Kayle knew that Morgana was very particular about her health and took very good care of her body. Growing up, she never remembered her sister ever falling ill, so for Morgana to be forced into early retirement by a debilitating illness, while being highly beneficial to her own cause, was nevertheless too good to be true. Her suspicions proved accurate when the spy she sent to secretly tail Morgana returned with some astonishing news that surprised even her normally inexpressive self."

"Kayle saw Morgana's unborn child for what it really was – potentially the most serious threat to her ideals. If word ever got out that Morgana and Aatrox had conceived a child, the rest of the angels would know that she had lied about being in a relationship with Aatrox during the vote. And when the child was born, it would undoubtedly be a very formidable child after inheriting the great powers of its parents. When the child eventually grew up, it would be powerful enough to depose even her. There was no doubt in Kayle's mind about what she had to do. She had already consolidated support by discretely banishing Aatrox to live among the Darkins, with the former justicar feeling more than happy to leave his wretched life behind and start anew in a different place. Now she had to eliminate his offspring."

"Kayle knew that her best chance of success was to attack when Morgana was at her weakest. It was well-known among angels that powerful fetuses consumed a great deal of energy and mana from their mothers. Though Morgana was strong, her unborn child was just as strong and would sap all of her energy, especially as she neared the full term of her pregnancy. That was precisely when Kayle would strike."

"Morgana was fully aware of how much the odds were stacked against her. All that she had in her favour – if you could even call it that – was time. Angels had very long gestation periods because of how much energy the fetus needed to consume. She needed to use this time to flee as far she could and hopefully come up with a plan. Unfortunately -"

"I have a question," Vi interrupted. "Again, where's Aatrox in all of this? Wasn't he the greatest warrior among them? Why wasn't he there to protect his lover and unborn child?"

"He had no means of communicating with them after being sent to the Darkins," Morgause responded. "Their worlds were very far apart and it was difficult to cross from one realm to the other. You have to hand it to Kayle for leaving no loose ends untied. She was a master of divide-and-conquer."

"As I was saying, Kayle bided her time and waited until Morgana was at her weakest, then immediately branded her sister as "fallen", declaring that she was a fugitive who needed to be captured at all cost, and then assembling a small party to hunt her down. Morgana tried to flee as far as she could, but her movement was hampered because the size of her unborn child made her develop the largest belly ever seen among angels. Her wings, which could ordinarily have carried her thousands of kilometres in a day, were severely limited because her pregnancy was taking such a massive toll on her. Very soon, Kayle's party caught up to her and surrounded her."

"To her credit, Kayle chose to take on her sister one-on-one instead of attacking with her whole party, but given Morgana's condition, whether or not it was even a fair fight is questionable. Morgana gave the fight of her life but ultimately lost. As Morgana lay defeated on the ground, Kayle stood above her with Justice pointed at her and asked for any last words. Morgana pleaded for her sister to kill her but let her innocent child live. This was all it took for Kayle to impale Morgana's belly, her womb, as Kayle proclaimed the simple phrase."

"Justice is served."

Morgause whispered that last line with a faraway look in her eyes, as though reminiscing about past events.

"Wow…" Vi uttered. "That was intense. I'm not quite sure what to say. I take it that Morgana died, along with her unborn child?"

"Most versions of the legend simply end with Kayle saying that phrase without going further. Fortunately, according to the version that I heard from a friend of a friend, it didn't actually there. Kayle thought that that one stab was fatal and left with her party, expecting Morgana to bleed to death. What she didn't know was that Morgana had spent the early stages of her pregnancy refining a single spell that she knew she would need. This spell was called "Black Shield", and Morgana invoked it right before Kayle drove Justice into her stomach. Black Shield cancelled out magical damage, and since Justice was a magical sword, majority of its attack was nullified, just barely saving both Morgana and her unborn child. Still, the sword had physically punctured her belly, resulting in early labour. Once she was sure that Kayle had left, Morgana was forced to give birth to her child right there and then."

"What happened to them after that?" Vi asked.

"Almost all of the legends that get to that point don't mention anything more. The one I heard states that Morgana used the last of her remaining mana to send her child away to another realm, where she hoped that her child would be able to live free from her sister's clutches. Morgana herself eventually managed to recuperate fully, but sustaining the wound had led to a change in her appearance. Her beautiful blond hair had turned a vivid shade of purple, her milky skin took on a slightly greyish appearance, and her snowy white wings darkened to an almost blackish colour. She could no longer fit in with the rest of the angels, nor did she even want to return to the society that had cast her out anyway, so she went into hiding in a remote and unknown location, where she could further increase her strength with the aim of someday plotting Kayle's downfall."

"And that's pretty much as far as any of the legends get to," Morgause concluded. "Any questions, my dear?"

"Why would Morgana's appearance matter? Shouldn't her former supporters be angry at Kayle instead?" Vi asked.

"Don't forget that history is always written by the winners. Morgana is evil? Kayle is righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history. Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values. Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right. Justice will always prevail because whoever wins becomes justice."

"How about the others? Aatrox? How about Kayle? Did she manage to achieve her vision?" Vi pressed for more answers.

"I highly doubt that Kayle would succeed in her mission. I agree with Morgana's view that their species was simply too flawed to achieve that level of perfection, but knowing Kayle, she would probably make an even bigger mess of things and end up finding someone else to blame."

"As for the relationship between Morgana and Aatrox…" Morgause trailed off. "I'd like to think that they managed to find their way back to each other somehow. I believe that those who are meant to be together will indeed end up together."

"How about the child?" Vi enquired.

"Hmm…" Morgause began. "I don't really know. Even my version of the legend did not go that far. If I could speculate, I think the child probably grew up without knowing all this, and Morgana would probably be happy to keep it that way."

"Damn…" Vi sighed. "I hate bittersweet endings."

"That's life, my child," Morgause said, patting Vi on the head affectionately. "Life is not a bed of roses. There are lots of things beyond our control. All we can do is react to it in the best way we know how."

"Eh," Vi interjected. "Do you think Kayle could actually have been in love with Morgana and only acted that way because she was jealous of Aatrox and wanted her sister all to herself?"

"Well… that is… I mean…" Morgause stuttered, while her cheeks took on a rosy hue. "That's one way to put it, but I think it is quite unlikely. But let's assume, just for the sake of argument, that Kayle was indeed in love with her sister. How do you think Kayle should have reacted?"

"Honestly," Vi declared strongly, "She should have left them alone. As you said, some things are beyond our control, and one of them is the feelings of other people."

"And hypothetically speaking, if Morgana knew about it – which she didn't by the way – then how should she have reacted?" Morgause asked.

"I guess she probably would have kept quiet about it. If she really cared about her sister, then she probably wouldn't want to open a can of worms and make things awkward between them," Vi replied.

"Would doing that be treating her sister as a _defective tool_?" Morgause asked, stressing the last two words of her question.

"How did that even…" Vi started and stopped as the words 'defective tool' swam around in her mind. It soon dawned on her that those were the same words she had used during her quarrel with Caitlyn.

"If we assume that your scenario did play out, would it be fair to blame her for not acknowledging her sister's feelings?" Morgause pressed. "Would it hurt if the person you cared about accused you of treating her as a defective tool? Would you be upset if she then went on to abandon you in the middle of an important mission when the two of you were supposed to be partners?"

"I…" Vi swallowed. Tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Forgive me for my bluntness, Vi," Morgause said, "But now is not the time to cry. The person you love is on an important mission right now, and your place is by her side. So go to her and protect her. You can settle the other issues later. Her safety comes first."

"You're right," Vi sobbed. "I wasn't being fair to her. I let her fiance's words get to me. I said some things I shouldn't have said."

"If she is as kind as you say she is, then I'm sure she will forgive you," Morgause smiled sadly while giving Vi a dark purple handkerchief with a pair of black wings embroidered on it. "No time to mope around now, it's already nighttime. While I would really like you to stay longer, there's somewhere else you need to be. I made some cupcakes for you to take with you. They should be done in another minute or so. Take two from the oven and give one to your partner."

With that, Morgause placed her hands on the counter for balance and slowly eased herself off the barstool with some difficulty before slowly plodding over to the door. Vi dabbed her cheeks with the handkerchief. She circled around the counter and took two cupcakes from the oven, which she put into a paper bag. She stepped back around the counter and made her way to the door, glancing at the large mirror on the wall as she walked past it.

Vi froze.

She took a single step back so she was in front of the mirror again. Hands shaking, she turned to look at the reflection staring back at her through the dusty mirror. Although the reflection looked perfectly normal now, she was very certain that the reflection from her previous glimpse had been anything but normal. She had merely taken a cursory glimpse at it the previous time, but she could have promised that her previous reflection had magenta skin partially covered in black clothing, white hair, amber eyes with amber goggles, and a pair of pointy horns that matched a pair of razor-sharp clawed gauntlets on her arms.

She looked over at Morgause, who was waiting for her by the door. Had she imagined all that? Vi rubbed her eyes and looked at the mirror again. There was nothing out of the ordinary with her reflection. Though feeling a little apprehensive, Vi finally turned away and went to give Morgause a loose hug. She tried to return the handkerchief to Morgause, but the latter refused, telling her to keep it as a memento and thanking her for the wonderful time they had shared. Vi took one last look around the room before exiting the store with a promise to return someday. She took off running in the dark night. The door of the bakery clicked softly shut behind her.

As Vi departed the Sinful Succulence bakery, there were two things that she did not know. First, she did not know at that time that she would never be able to find the shop again in the future. She would make her way back to Noxus with Caitlyn after the war was over in an attempt to meet up with Morgause, and although she would locate the street, she would find the shop building completely abandoned, with neighbours in the area claiming that the building had not been occupied for decades, and not having ever heard of any bakery called Sinful Succulence or a winged baker called Morgause. She would be left wondering whether it had all been part of her imagination, and if it had, then where exactly did she get the purple handkerchief with black embroidered wings from?

Second, in her haste to return to Caitlyn's side, Vi also did not notice Morgause watching her from the large window on the shopfront of the Sinful Succulence bakery.

* * *

Beaming as she watched Vi disappear around the street corner and into the night, 'Morgause' raised a hand and snapped her fingers. Her attire transformed straightaway, with her tall chef hat vanishing and her chef's costume being replaced by a long and flowy purple skirt that rode low beneath her pelvic bones, as well as a matching purple metal brassiere that partially covered her ample chest. Her so-called synthetic wings that had remained unmoving all this while fluttered tentatively through the air, loosening some of the tight muscles that had become a little numb from being forced to keep completely still for so long.

Feeling giddy with excitement, **Morgana** let out a high-pitched squeal like a little girl. She had finally met Vi – she had finally met her daughter! And even got to hug her! Twice, no less! She could not wait to tell Aatrox how the meeting went! He would be thrilled! Maintaining the 'Morgause' persona had been hard and there were instances when she nearly let slip that she actually was Morgana. Keeping her wings absolutely still to mimic a pair of synthetic wings had also been challenging when all she wanted to do was wrap her arms (and wings) around her long-lost daughter, but it had all been so worth it in the end!

When her excitement finally settled down, Morgana's lips settled into a peaceful smile. So her daughter had turned out well after going through a rough childhood. The spell that she had cast on the mirror had briefly shown her what her daughter would have looked like, had she fallen into complete despair and ended up unbinding the spells that Morgana had cast on her a long time ago in order to suppress her true form. Now that Vi had reached adulthood without ever having turned into her true form, she would fully lose her ability to transform into Demon Vi, allowing her to remain fully integrated into society as a full-fledged human without any risk of activating her true form. The fact that the mirror only briefly showed Vi's true form as Demon Vi for a fleeting moment before the reflection returned into human Vi confirmed that her true form would no longer return.

Morgana was immensely grateful to the Sheriff of Pitlover for turning Vi's life around. It had been such a relief for her, since she could finally let go of the guilt that had gnawed at her conscience ever since she was forced to send her child away to allow her to escape from Kayle's clutches. She hoped that Vi would get back to Caitlyn in time to return the favour by saving the Sheriff from her dire situation.

Another snap of Morgana's fingers extinguished the lamp above her, filling the room with darkness except for the area near the window, where Morgana's body was bathed in moonlight. As Morgana turned to the side to walk back to the kitchen where the teleportation portal was located, she lowered her eyes and gazed tenderly at the other major component of her disguise that had required a great deal of effort to conceal from Vi. The moonlight illuminated her silhouette through the window, casting a long shadow of her side profile that highlighted the curves of her body, with one particular curve standing out much more prominently than the rest. Although she had managed to cast a spell illusion that concealed her body's appearance without actually applying any physical changes, she could not hide the tiredness and sluggishness that came with her condition, which was now fully visible under the moonlight after dispelling the illusion spell.

Having seen her first child all grown up, Morgana wondered dreamily about the future and walked away with a slight waddle as she raised a hand to her full-term belly and stroked, idly, at the immense swell of pregnant flesh jutting from her pregnant form…

* * *

A/N: This was a fun story to write, and I hope it was just as fun to read! I wonder how well I telegraphed the ending, since I left a few clues here and there. As always, all reviews are welcome.

References (may not be exhaustive; please let me know if there are any that I've left out):

Death note – name of the muffin that Vi ordered; title of an anime

Morgana's poem – The Quatrain of Seven Steps that Cao Zhi said to his brother Cao Pi; the translation from Mandarin to English is my own

Morgause/Morgana's response about history being written by the winners – speech by One Piece's Doflamingo; translation taken from goodreads


End file.
